There Can Be a Second Chance
by RiddlePanda
Summary: This is Jak's side of the story on Can There Be a Second Chance


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THERE CAN BE A SECOND CHANCE

Bakura: This is Jak's side of the story of Can There Be a Second Chance?

And as promised, all my reviewers of this story get the Precursor Alphabet.

I don't own anything, except for my Jak II T-shirt that has a pic of Jak in a zoomer, with the words, "Who needs breaks when there's walls, people, and Krimzon Guards." Don't ask where you can get one. I actually made it with iron-on transfer printer paper.

Also, I'm sorry if the ending sounds a bit repetitive, but since it is Jak's side, the lines would still be the same. And no, I did not cut and paste. I just re-typed them from the other one using the other story.

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Jak groaned softly, as he shifted around in his bed. This continued on for a few minutes before finally surrendering and pulled himself out of bed. He walked to the front room, where Torn was sitting, looking at Krimzon Guard rosters. Torn had been re-instated in the Krimzon Guard and was now the new commander of them, after the old commander, Erol, had been presumed dead. Torn was getting teams together to destroy the stray Metal Heads that were scattered around Haven City.

Torn looked up. "Can't sleep, Jak?" "No, I don't know what's wrong. I mean, I just defeated Kor, purified my dark form and we're rebuilding the city, but I feel like something is still missing, like there's something I haven't done yet." "Humph, sounds like a personal problem, Jak. I know what your problem is, you've been vying for revenge for so long, you forgot to be human. Just go out, have a good time, and don't think about anything."

"That's hard to do. There's so much to be done, Torn. Working for you and Sig and also helping Daxter at the bar, plus rebuilding the city, needs my full attention. I can't just forget everything, and have fun." "Jak, you're thinking about this too hard. I'll tell you what. I order you to take a few days off to do whatever you want. Sleep, party, whatever. Just, I want you to do something for me." "Isn't that always the case?" Torn rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I've been going over some of the patterns of some of the Krimzon Guards I don't yet think are very loyal to Ashelin's new rule, three in particular. Two days ago, they went to the Mar Memorial Stadium to rid it of Metal Heads and after that, their behavior hasn't been normal. They have each missed one patrol duty and have not reported what they do when they aren't on duty. I want you to go to the Fortress and sneak attack them to see what they are doing." "Sure, Torn. See you in a couple of hours."

Jak grabbed his Morph gun and Hoverboard and headed out the door. He boarded the Hoverboard and hovered over to the fortress in no time. Grabbing the map of the Fortress Torn gave him, he looked it over and plotted the quickest routes through the Fortress. Making his way down the corridors, he paused every time he heard a noise. After an hour of searching, he had just about given up, when he found a little used door in a section that had not been redone yet. He opened the door slowly and crept up to a worn down room. In the room were the three guards he had been sent to spy on and something that caught him off-guard. One of the men was whipping the back of a tied up person. Jak could have sworn the red-orange hair the man had looked oddly familiar.

Jak quickly took out the other two guards then went up to the guard with the whip. He surprised him by punching him in the jaw. The guard was knocked back but quickly brought his gun up. Jak was quicker, however and shot the guard before he had a chance to fire. Jak put his gun behind his back and walked over to the prisoner. He gasped as he recognized the grayish tattoos on the man's face. "Erol?!" His stomach churned. Erol didn't look like what he did the last time Jak had seen him. He had huge, nasty purple bruises, slash marks, and blood covering most of his body as well as his back looking like raw meat with all the whip marks and his eyes were dull and lifeless, not the vengeful brown he normally saw on him. 

He got a small knife out of one of his pockets and began cutting the rope that bound Erol's hands. He saw Erol look up at him a few times before finally passing out in Jak's arms. Jak found a sheet and covered him up, before carefully carrying him out of the Fortress and back to the hideout. As Jak drove there in a "borrowed" zoomer, he looked down at Erol's blood and tear stained face. 'Erol, no one deserves being beaten up like this. I never wanted to see anyone tortured again, I know from experience. You may be my rival, but I never hated you and I was actually sad when I thought you had died. Praxis was the real enemy, but he's gone now and so are those guards. And you may hate me, but if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask me.' Jak thought before parking the zoomer and carrying the man carefully in the hideout.

"Torn, could you help me?" Jak called out. "Did you finish the mission?" "Yes, but there's something you need to see." Torn walked out and gasped as he saw who Jak had in his arms. "Help me get him to a bed. We need to clean his wounds before they get infected." "Sure. I'll get the first aid kit." They carefully put Erol on his stomach and began washing the dried blood off of his back and doctoring the cuts. "So, Jak, what happened?" "You were right about those men, Torn. You said something about them going to the stadium. They must have found Erol and took him back to the Fortress and did this to him. I took care of them." "Jak, you sound like there's more to the story than what you're telling." "Torn, the way Erol looked at me as I was freeing him, was heart-wrenching. He was prepared to die and probably would have if I hadn't had got there when I did. His eyes were so dull and lifeless, like his soul's been shattered. I know his cuts will heal, but during my time in the prison, I learned that the mental wounds don't heal so easily. He'll have a lot of mental healing to do." "Jak…" "I know what Erol has been through. I suffered with it for two years. Beatings, whippings, they even raped me a few times, and through it all I almost lost hope. But deep down in my mind, I knew there were people looking for me and I held on for them, but I don't think Erol thought he had anybody to save him. He looked so lost and confused when he looked at me. I want to help him anyway I can."

"You've always wanted to help people, haven't you Jak? I was talking to Samos about what you used to be like. I guess some of the old you is leaking through." Torn stood up. "I'm going to root out some more guards that I don't trust." "Okay, I'm going to stay here and watch Erol and see if he needs anything once he gets up." "Hey, when Erol wakes up, tell him he can stay in the Guard if he wants to. I know that's probably the last thing he wants to hear but still it's an offer. I do need a little help with these Guards. I mean sure, I was the commander of the Underground but compared to how many Guards there are, I'm overwhelmed. Erol knows how to handle these guys." "I'll tell him."

Jak stayed up with the Erol the rest of the night. The clock said 6:45 am when Erol began stirring and tried to get up. Jak saw one of the bandages on Erol's back try to peel off. "Don't get up, Erol. You'll mess up the bandages and your wounds will open up again. If you need anything, I'll get it for you." Jak watched Erol lay there for a few minutes. The room seemed to get colder and Jak saw Erol shiver a bit. "Are you cold?" he asked. "Y…yes." Jak felt tears growing in his eyes. Erol's voice was so cracked and hoarse, probably from all the screaming he had done. Jak got up and walked to the closet and rummaged around until he found a thin but warm blanket. He carefully placed it on Erol's injured back. "T…thank you." He heard Erol say and saw tears also forming in the tattooed eyes of his rival.

Jak gently began to wipe the tears out of Erol's face. Erol slowly opened his eyes and looked at Jak. "J…Jak? You saved me?" Jak's eyes flickered. "I wasn't going to let anyone be stripped of their pride while I could do something about it. I'm just sorry I couldn't get to you sooner. You could have not suffered as much if I had been there a little faster." Erol shook his head. "B…but why? After what I've done to you, how I treated you, how I nearly KILLED you?! Jak smiled at Erol and began to move a few stray locks of hair that had fallen in Erol's brown eyes. "I don't hate you for any of that Erol. It was actually my destiny I guess, once I think about it. And about Keira, she's just a friend but she's been that ever since she was born and she's like a sister to me, so I have to watch out for her, and the races, well, you have to be competitive in races or it's just boring." 

Jak watched as Erol's tears came out in full force. "Why Jak? Why are you being so nice to me?" "No one deserves to get beaten and raped, not even you. You were just doing your job. Those guards had no justice or honor in what they did. I can assure you Torn and I took care of them." "Torn knows about this too?" "Well, he IS the commander of the Guard. Because of his training in the Underground, he becomes a little bit too picky about the habits of the men that work for him. When he noticed a few weren't doing their normal routine, he began to investigate. He called me to get the jump on them since if he walked in, they would try to cover up any wrongdoings they were doing. I took out the other ones and then took out the one that had you and brought you back to my house and dressed your wounds."

Jak began to play with Erol's short orangey-red hair. "I reported to Torn about what happened and he said that once you're healed up, you can rejoin the Guard if you want to. You can be the co-commander. Torn actually admitted that he needs help commanding the Guards and you have experience." Erol looked shocked at what Jak had said. "What about you? What are you going to do?" "Try not to stay bored. With Kor and the Baron dead and nearly all the Metal Heads gone, there's nothing to fight anymore. And I can't piss off the Guards anymore because we're on the same side now and Torn would yell at me not to do it."

Jak heard Erol laugh. That was the only time he had heard an actual laugh from him that wasn't creepy. Jak was lost in the moment, but snapped out of it when he saw Erol wince. "I think I found a broken rib. Ow." Erol said. Jak looked down at Erol. 'I don't know what this feeling I'm having is. I feel happy with Erol like he's what I've been missing in my heart. I've never really felt any hatred toward him, even those two years I was in prison. I…I think I love him.' Jak thought. Erol broke Jak's thoughts when he spoke. "Jak, why did you save me? Anyone could have gone down there to check, so why did you?" Jak sighed. 'This is it. I have to tell him. He may not feel the same way, but I have to. Even if it's just to settle my thoughts.' He took one of Erol's bandaged hands in his own.

"I love you. I did it because I love you, Erol. Ever since that day you captured me, I felt a love for you that has never died. You're my world, Erol, and it pained me every time you threatened me and when we raced, thinking that my love would probably never be returned." Jak saw Erol smile at him. "You were wrong. I love you too, Jak. You saved me from my own destruction. I'm indebted to you with my life and my love. Those guards made me feel like I was worthless, I was just excess baggage that needed to be disposed of, but you risked your life to save someone you love, even though you didn't think they could love you back. I commend you on that."

Jak looked into Erol's eyes and saw that Erol was looking back at him. His eyes had a glimmer of life in them, which relieved Jak. Jak didn't realize how close they were until their lips were pressing against each other. It was a light kiss the two shared and Jak felt the empty feeling fade away. They broke the kiss and Jak stood up and began to walk out of the room. At the doorway, Jak stopped and looked back at Erol. "I think you've had a lot of excitement. Try and get some more sleep, and I'll be back later to change the bandages." "Okay. Hey Jak?" Jak stopped and turned around. "Yeah?" "Eco Freak." Jak smiled at Erol and Erol smiled back before Jak turned off the light.

Jak walked to where Torn was. "So did he wake up?" Torn asked. "Yeah, and you know what Torn?" "What Jak?" "You know that I told you like something was missing. Well, I think I just filled it." "That's good Jak. Did Erol want to come back to the Guard?" "He didn't really say, but he sounds like he wants to." "That's good." "I'm going to go get some sleep. I'm really tired." "Goodnight Jak." As Jak walked down the hall to his room, he smiled. His life now seemed complete and he felt human again. He climbed into bed and for the first time in about two years, he finally felt loved again and instantly fell asleep, dreaming about what the future would hold for him.

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Bakura: Well, this was really hard to write. Especially when you have to go to work during the best part of the story.

Jak: Oh, is that when me, Erol, and Torn tie you up and take our underwear back.

Bakura: No, and why would you want your BARNEY underwear back?

Jak: I DON'T WEAR BARNEY UNDERWEAR!

Bakura: Oh, that's right. You wear BARBIE underwear.

Jak: DIE BAKURA!

(Bakura dodges out of the way and Jak accidentally hits Torn.)

Torn: Grrrr.

Jak: EEP! 

(Jak begins to run away from a very pissed off Torn.)

Bakura: Anyway, before those two realize what happened and come after me, please review. Remember, those who do get the Precursor Alphabet.


End file.
